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From the web: Things I Wish I Had Known Before Making Aliyah

I found this on the web. returningstranger.blogspot.co.il

"Things I Wish I Had Known Before Making Aliyah

I came to Israel to join the army. I wanted to serve my people, my country, to dedicate myself to a higher cause, and above all to carve my own path in the world. I knew it was going to be hard, but not in a way that was tangible to me at the time. It was more just like a concept floating around in my head. I knew this would be extremely challenging only as a concept, but I couldn’t feel it viscerally in my emotions. Here are a few things that I wish I knew before hand that might help any prospective olim hadashim out there:

The Language Won’t Just “Come”

Everyone told me before I made Aliyah that picking up Hebrew would be a synch. They told me that even if I didn’t want to learn Hebrew, I would anyway. Such has not been in the case even in the slightest. In five of intensive months of Hebrew study (ulpan) I’ve barely been able to get to a level where I can express myself.

It’s not for a lack of effort though. I try to speak Hebrew all the time, any chance I get. That’s the key. In actuality, I probably made more progress than most or all of the people in my ulpan class. It’s so frustrating though not understanding what someone says to you or when you try to speak Hebrew to someone and out of impatience he just switches to English and goes “What are you trying to say?”

What I Would Have Done Differently?


I would have studied a lot more Hebrew back at home. That’s about it, there’s no short-cut. It’s a shame because you can’t really connect with this country until you speak the language. A woman I spoke with at the health clinic here said that when she made Aliyah, it took her a year before she could understand everything, and 1.5 years before she could say anything she wanted, which means that the pace I’m picking up the language is average by my estimation (now I’ve been here five months). So if you want to go to a sayerot, where pretty good Hebrew is required, start hitting the books now and know that consistency in studying everyday is what will help you the most, NOT occasionally cramming yourself with all the Hebrew you can."

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